No closer

2009/11/08 Korta Hernandez, Nerea - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Anatomia/Fisiologia
• Giza zientziak

Personal space is a space of protection for individuals in their environment. When someone accesses this area, the person feels uncomfortable. However, depending on the situation and the person approaching, the area has different dimensions.

If the one who approaches is very close, it does not matter to exceed its limit, approximately half a meter. It will offer the acquaintances a personal space of approximately one meter. In formal interactions, business, etc. use social distance: 3.7 meters approx. Speaking to a group of people will leave an average distance of 7.6 meters.

In places with different population density, these distances are also culturally different. In countries like Japan and India, for example, due to the large number of inhabitants, this personal space is smaller.

Therefore, the perception of personal distance has been considered by the scientific community as a cultural decision. However, an article published in August in the journal Nature Neuroscience suggests something else: Ralph Adolphs and Daniel Kennedy of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have discovered the presence of personal space in the brain.

Woman coming too close

S.L. The answer was made possible by a 42-year-old woman they have known by name. It is one of the few people worldwide with almost total injury to both parts of the brain tonsil. As a result, you don't feel afraid on people's faces. What's more, he plays too friendly with people he barely knows, overcoming his personal space.

Something similar had been seen in the tests carried out with the monkeys: the rays with damage of the tonsil, unlike healthy monkeys, liked to be closer to other rays and humans. Knowing this, and seeing S.L.'s behavior, scientists conducted a series of experiments.

They used a technique called stop-distance, in which the subject must stand up to the experiencer at a certain distance. The experiencer approaches the subject and he tells him to stop where he feels most comfortable. The experiment was carried out with S.L. and twenty other volunteers of different ages, ethnicities, studies and sexes.

The result of the experiment was clear: twenty volunteers stopped the experimenter at 64 centimeters, while H.M. he did it at 34 centimeters, almost half the distance. Not only that: S.M. felt comfortable even with the nose leaning.

Given this, scientists sought more evidence. Using functional magnetic resonance representation, the tonsils of eight healthy subjects were analyzed, placing the experiencer near and far from them. When they knew the experiencer was nearby, but without seeing him, the tonsil had a clear answer. This shows that the same response occurs in the amygdala when personal space is broken and space is thought to be breached.

Therefore, personal space is not only cultural. Researchers have concluded that the tonsil may be necessary to learn the relationship between personal space and the discomfort of its violation. And they believe that research will serve to treat diseases that cause serious confusion in social distance, such as autism and Williams syndrome.

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